Page 85 of Fall Into Temptation
“It’s fucking Homecoming, not her damn wedding day. Oh, God. She’s going to get married—”
She smacked him again. “Stay with me. This is a girl who’s been abandoned by her parents. Who probably didn’t have a great life with her mother before she left. And now she’s part of this big, amazing family, and you’re making her feel like shit for her choices.”
“No, I’m not!” he argued.
“The dress, the date. She chose those, and you’re not trusting her decisions.”
Jax sputtered, but Eva cut him off. “Listen to me. How did you feel the first time your dad handed you the keys to his car? Or let you stay out past curfew? Or talked to you like an adult?”
That shut him up.
She laid a hand on his shoulder. “You need to tell Reva that you trust her and her decisions. She’s a great kid. An amazing one, and you’re lucky enough to have her in your life. Don’t take her special day and turn it into a guilt-fest for your idiocy when you were her age. Trust her to make better choices than you did.”
“What if she doesn’t? I was convincing as hell when I was her age. Ask Joey,” he pointed at his wife who was staring stonily up at Donovan and possibly growling.
“And look how you two ended up,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but that’s different. What are the odds of that happening? One in a trillion?”
“What are you trying to protect Reva from?”
“Guys like me!”
Carter and Beckett stepped in to flank him, still juggling their daughters.
“Guys likeus,” Beckett corrected him.
Eva looked heavenward and groaned. “Okay, listen to me. All of you. You are good men. You’ve grown up, you’ve married amazing,patientwomen—except for Joey—and you’re raising awesome kids. All you can do is be good examples for your kids. Do you think Reva is going to settle for some loser jerk when she sees what you and Joey have?” she asked Jax. “Or what Beckett and Gia and Carter and Summer and my dad and Phoebe have? She sees all of this and knows that she can have this, too. You just need to trust her to make the right decisions.”
Oh shit. She wasn’t just talking about Reva anymore.
“Our step-sister-in-law makes sense,” Beckett mused.
“I just want her to be happy and safe… and stay a virgin forever,” Jax sighed.
“She will. Minus the virgin part,” Eva promised.
“What’s a virgin?” Aurora wanted to know.
“I get what you guys are trying to do. It’s sweet, but so,somisguided. Trust her to be her. Okay?”
“You’re a wise woman. Bring it in, Eves,” Carter said. They surrounded her in a manly group hug. Aurora jumped from Beckett to Eva and wrapped her arms around her neck.
“Why isn’t anyone telling me what a virgin is?” Aurora asked.
“It’s a Madonna song, short cake,” Beckett told her.
“Guys, I can’t breathe,” Eva said, her face smashed up against someone’s chest. “And you should be hugging Reva.”
They moved as one, a dozen-legged organism climbing the porch stairs and enfolding Reva into their ridiculousness. Waffles and Baxter danced around them, sensing a game.
“Guys, please don’t mess up my makeup,” Reva grumbled.
“Or her hair,” Emma shouted from the yard.
Phoebe shot her fist into the air. “I finally feel like the Mother’s Curse is kicking in. Now you all get to suffer through everything you put me through.”
The men released Eva, Reva, and Aurora to jump off the porch and wrap Phoebe and then Franklin in a sloppy, testosterone-filled hug.
